Kept From the Deep: Venora Mates Book Two

by Octavia Kore

  “Look, I get that I should have called, but this is about the press conference she held today.” Jun looked between the men. “It’s about that crash.”

  The man on the left dropped his hand to the holster on his hip and took a step toward her. “I said, make an appointment.”

  Jun felt heat rise in her face as she tamped down the anger and frustration bubbling within her. This was her only chance, and these idiots were going to ruin it. The loud rumble of a motorcycle engine filled her ears, and Jun pressed her fingers into her temples to quell the sudden ache.

  “I just need a moment––”

  “What’s going on here?”

  Jun turned at the sound of the feminine voice just in time to see Telisa Moore swinging her leg over the side of the flashy sports bike parked on the side of the road. She had her helmet wedged beneath one arm and was straightening the tight curls that hung around her face and shoulders with her other hand.

  “Senator Moore.” The man on the right greeted her, reaching for the door as she approached.

  This was her shot. “Senator!” Jun launched herself down the stairs toward the other woman. “The crashed ship wasn’t from the Grutex.” Shouts from the men in black went up behind her, but she ignored them. “I know who they are and they want to help!”

  The senator opened her mouth, but one of the men shoved Jun to the side. “She’s crazy.” He hissed. “Just like every other nut job we’ve had to kick out of here today.”

  “Marco!” Telisa reprimanded. “I specifically asked for people to come forward. I knew we would have to wade through the crazies, but you can’t keep turning people away because you don’t believe them.”

  “She’s lying.” Marco gripped her arm, dragging her away from Telisa, who was still arguing with the other man.

  Everything after that happened so fast she could barely keep up. The hand on her arm was suddenly ripped away, and Marco went flying, landing with a thud on the grass not far from where she stood.

  Brin moved in front of her, his fushori bright and angry. His body seemed even bigger than she remembered, and he growled low as he wrapped his tail around her leg.

  “Do not touch her! Not ever!” he yelled.

  “What the fuck!” someone said.

  The front door of the office opened, and she saw two more men in black suits run out, guns raised. Large extended barrels aimed at her alien, and she gasped.

  Jun wasn’t stupid, she could guess what those were loaded with. There had been rumors of a new prototype ammunition that those in charge hoped would be able to repel the Grutex, but from what Jun had heard, they weren’t being used to protect ordinary citizens. They were reserved for the rich or the powerful, people in government or just those who were privately wealthy.

  Before she could even think about her next move, the sound of weapons discharging filled the air and Brin’s massive body jerked as the anti-Grutex rounds pierced his flesh.

  All aliens were deemed kill on sight. Even though Brin wasn’t Grutex, the rules seemed to still apply to him. She tried to scream, but nothing came from her mouth except for a sob as she watched him drop to his knees before falling to the side.

  Blue blood pooled on the ground around her, and she felt herself rush forward, her hands clutching at him as she tried frantically to make sure he was alive.

  Assess the damage first, Jun heard the voice in her mind, calm and steady. She was a nurse, damn it. She was trained to work in chaos. Blood seeped from the wounds on his chest and torso.

  If these had been regular bullets Jun might not have had as much to worry about, but these had been specially crafted to inflict damage to the armor of the Grutex. They were meant to shatter once inside, spilling deadly toxins into the bloodstream if the rumors of their manufacturing were to be believed.

  Brin’s limbs shook as he gasped and grunted. His fingers curled around her leg as she pressed her hand against one of the holes, but she knew it was pointless. The many fragments were small, and putting pressure on these wounds did nothing to stop the spread of the toxin.

  “Shayfia…” Brin’s voice sounded so distant and the look in his eyes sent fear racing through her.

  “You didn’t stay. You didn’t… listen.” Tears fell down her face as she clutched at his face with bloodied hands.

  “You could have hit her!” someone was yelling, but Jun barely comprehended the words.

  Please don’t go. Please don’t leave me.

  Hands wrapped around her arms and waist, pulling her back, taking her away from Brin. His eyes went wide a moment before his whole body went lax. She heard screams, felt the terrible clawing pain in her throat as she fought against whoever was attempting to take her.

  Everything that had stopped her from acting on her feelings, every little excuse she had come up with for not letting herself dive in heart-first like Amanda had seemed so insignificant in the face of losing him forever.

  Every cell in her body screamed in agony, calling out for him to wake up, to shake off the toxin and come after her. The moment the hulking figure of a Grutex stepped into her vision, Jun’s muscles froze in sheer terror. The male lifted her alien’s limp body into his arms with hardly any effort and began striding toward her.

  Brin was dead, and now she was in more danger than she had ever been in her life.

  It didn’t matter how hard she tugged or how much she twisted her hands, the thin glowing rope around her wrists held fast. The material was far stronger than it looked. Outside the windows of the alien transport, the world passed by in a blur. Jun wasn’t sure where they were headed, but she knew it was nowhere good.

  She berated herself for not anticipating Brin’s response, for not paying close enough attention to her surroundings. Spotting the Grutex crafts would have been nearly impossible with their ability to cloak themselves, but if she would have handled the situation better, maybe she would still have Brin.

  The last few days spent with Brin had made her complacent. There was something about him that put her at ease, made her forget that there were real monsters in this world.

  She hadn’t felt such a sense of safety since she had been with her family, but Brin wasn’t here to calm her now. She was on her own, and she needed to be brave for herself now.

  The moment they had gotten into the ship, Brin’s body had been sealed within a large, cylindrical pod. She wasn’t sure what they planned to do with him, but knowing he was still with her in some way was a strange comfort. She missed the comfort his small, often unconscious, touches brought her.

  A particularly sharp turn of the transport had Jun landing roughly on her side against the unforgiving metal of the floor. The air was forced from her lungs, and she gasped at the pain that shot through her.

  The Grutex sitting to the right side of the cockpit glanced back, his six red eyes roamed over her as she curled into herself and he spoke quickly to the pilot in a language she didn’t understand. What she wouldn’t give for a translator like the one Brin had told her about.

  “Ack na gru tas la vu,” the pilot responded, and his shoulders lifted and dropped in a very human gesture.

  The other male’s eyes narrowed. “Raw ma tu la pa eskna uroesta lvonu ma.” The other male’s eyes narrowed on him before they cut back to her and she felt the hairs all over her body stand on end. She didn’t like what she saw in his gaze. “Raiskna fumala dikun metu ara stayu.”

  “I can’t understand you, but I’m pretty sure you already know that,” she hissed in frustration, but something flitted at the back of her mind.

  There was something about this male, something familiar, but with the shock still overwhelming her system, Jun couldn’t think straight.

  The male chuckled, or rather barked, but she imagined it was akin to a human laughing. “So pretty and full of fire.” His eyes moved over her in unconcealed admiration. “I’m going to enjoy the sight of you bent over my inkei. Very much.” The long tentacle-like protrusions around his face wriggled.

/>   Revulsion rushed through her, threatening to bring up the contents of her stomach, but she sneered at him instead.

  “And I’d enjoy cutting off your maliit na ari.” Jun glared at him, her lip curling. “Very much.”

  The large male threw his head back and the most sinister laugh she had ever heard filled the small space, sending an icy bolt of fear up her spine.

  She stared him down as he stood, crossing the room until he was kneeling in front of her, red eyes locked onto hers.

  “You are still so full of fire. I will put in a request to join the chase with you, and perhaps then you will rethink the size of my dick.”

  “Leave her,” the pilot rumbled. “The female is not for you, Raou.”

  “Raou?” Jun stared up at the male as recognition finally dawned on her. The Grutex who had broken into her home. The male who had tried to kidnap her. She opened her mouth, but the sharp sting of something piercing her neck made her gasp in surprise.

  Raou stuffed a sleek metallic device in the pouch at his waist and smiled. “Sleep well, female.”

  Oh, God, he’d drugged her. Jun fought against whatever was coursing through her system, but the conversation in the background began to fade as the darkness closed in.

  Remain calm. She couldn’t control her situation, but she could try to control her reaction to it. Darkness filled her vision, and she felt her body fall uselessly against the cold, hard floor beneath her.

  Chapter 11

  Nuzal

  Nuzal shifted restlessly against the mattress within his sleeping quarters. Since the day he’d taken the human female from the Kaia’s office, something was… off. His plating felt tight and uncomfortable, irritating the soft flesh beneath it.

  He had snapped and snarled at nearly everyone who dared to come near him. No matter how much he tried to ignore the emotions the treatment of the humans stirred within him lately, he couldn’t find a way to turn them off completely.

  They are nothing more than humans, he’d remind himself on more than one occasion, but even as the words filled his mind, he knew he no longer believed them.

  He slammed a fist into the pillow before tossing it across the small space. A growl rumbled up his throat as he dressed and made his way into the lab.

  If he wasn’t going to sleep, he might as well get a jump on his work for the cycle. The doors slid open as he approached, and he wasn’t at all surprised to see Erusha at his desk, immersed in his work.

  The male glanced up as Nuzal passed his doorway. “Another short rest cycle?”

  “Yes.” Nuzal opened a file on his wrist comm and swiped it onto the wall, making notes along the inner margins

  “Are you feeling all right?”

  Nuzal turned toward the male in surprise. Something flashed across his face as they stared at one another. Was it… concern? He supposed he wouldn’t know concern even if he saw it.

  “What makes you ask such a thing?” he snarled, knowing that showing any sort of weakness would be frowned upon.

  Even here in the lab, among males who had never been and would never be warriors, a certain amount of violence and posturing was expected.

  The strange look was gone. As if suddenly remembering himself and the position he held, Erusha sneered. “I’m making sure you are fit to handle the new batch. It would be an… inconvenience to replace you now.”

  “Then it will please you to know I am capable and eager to get started.” The cold of the patched metal seeped into the softer underside of his feet, and Nuzal glanced down with a frown. He’d forgotten his boots. Again. No wonder Erusha had felt the need to ask after his health. His supervisor glanced down at his feet, and he shifted. “I think better this way,” he mumbled.

  All six of Erusha’s eyes narrowed in speculation. “Is this something you’ve only just realized? I don’t ever recall your feet needing to be free in order for you to get things done.”

  “Self-discovery can happen at any time, and the Kaia has been far more demanding recently.”

  Erusha snorted, but it seemed to have placated him. The older male went back to his work while Nuzal fought the urge to rip the plates from his body. If he didn’t pull himself together soon, he was going to find himself being reborn before he was ready.

  If they deemed his body unfit or compromised, they wouldn’t hesitate to put him back into the rotation. Maybe you should let them, he thought. Maybe next time, your dignity and honor will be restored and you can join the ranks of the warriors once more. But something inside him balked at the idea.

  Nuzal moved to the small gazer on the wall, staring out into the expanse of space. Was this how the humans felt? Trapped and restless with nowhere to run?

  The sound of distant engines disengaging in the loading bay shook him from his musings and he tried to build the wall back up around his softened heart, but every time he thought he succeeded, the wall tumbled down, breaking apart, crumbling.

  Instead, Nuzal tightened his jaw and tried his best to seem impartial as the doors slid open wide at the end of the corridor. A ground team shoved the floating pods past the rows of cells. Nuzal counted ten pods in all.

  One of the males looked a bit banged up, but he’d seen and been in far worse shape during his time.

  “I see you came in heavy,” Erusha commented as his gaze roamed over the new batch of humans.

  “We had a few unexpected additions,” the warrior, Raou, said darkly. “More toys for the lab to play with.”

  Nuzal remembered him from the call in the Kaia’s office. He couldn’t recall ever serving with the male, but there was something about him Nuzal didn’t like, something that felt suspiciously like an old rivalry.

  “They were all tested for compatibility?” Erusha asked as he accepted the transfer of documents.

  “We know how to do our job,” the other male, a pilot, by the looks of the uniform he wore ground out.

  “There is a Venium among them,” Raou snarled. “A traitor who broke the truce.”

  Something akin to joy and excitement flashed across Erusha’s face. Nuzal imagined the older male was already thinking of all the possibilities this presented him with.

  He moved toward the pod that held the Venium and placed his hand over the information pad on the top. Webs of data transmitters encased his hand, transferring all of the male’s known medical data directly into his mind.

  “What is this?” Erusha growled, his sharp gaze cutting toward Raou. “You have brought me a broken toy!”

  “He was injured by the human males before we took him. I saw no reason to step in before they incapacitated him.”

  “That should have been the first thing you mentioned, you fool!” Erusha struck out at the male, his claws catching the plate at the side of his face. Three deep wounds scared the armor below one eye to his chin.

  Raou stumbled back, but he made no sound nor did he move to clutch the wound. “He has bonded to one of the females,” he said before Erusha could strike again. “I know he has.”

  “Which one?” Erusha demanded, excitement once again replacing his anger. For a moment, the other male only stared as if he was reluctant to give the information up, but he eventually stepped up to one of the other pods.

  “This one.”

  “Nuzal, take the Venium to surgery.” The older male slid the pod toward him. “All of the others aside from the bonded female will be placed in cells.” Erusha’s hand caressed the pod the female was locked in. All six of his eyes rolled up and into the back of his head and he smiled. “Keep her under until the male is cleared. I want to observe their interactions.”

  Nuzal stared at the pod, wanting nothing more in that moment than to rip his superior away from the female and break open his head against the wall, but he tamped down the madness that raged within him, suppressing the otherness that set him apart from his people.

  The sides of his head filled with a dull, throbbing pain, but he pushed passed it, reminding himself that he had been born into this career
this time and he had a duty to fulfill.

  Tapping his fingers against the holo controls, Nuzal set the Venium’s destination before turning toward the bonded female. He barked orders to the Grutex who ranked below him to lead the pods away as he followed his charges out of the main corridor.

  He would see to these two personally.

  The way Erusha had touched the female’s pod made Nuzal think his superior already had something planned for the unsuspecting human, and he was going to make sure he was a part of whatever that was.

  Cameras monitored the halls of this section, sending information to security concerning every move they made. The warriors broke away, heading back toward the loading bay, but already Nuzal could hear Raou venting his anger on the others in his crew over being marked.

  The lights in surgery switched on as they stepped through the doors. Nuzal watched as his small team prepped the chambers and moved the Venium’s body onto the flat surface before the healing gel enveloped him.

  One of the younger males in his team scanned the body, identifying the six open wounds along the chest and torso. The finished scan was projected over the patient, and Nuzal studied it as he stepped forward.

  After coating his arms in the liquid gloves at his side, Nuzal pressed his fingers into the gel, sliding effortlessly through the material until he reached the first wound.

  When the more sensitive pads of his fingers made contact with the male’s flesh, Nuzal felt a strange heat begin the creep up from his bootless feet. It climbed his legs, trailing its tendrils over the plate that covered his inkei and then higher, over his stomach and chest, until it reached his face.

  It was like a soft caress, and it set every nerve ending within him on alert. Something alien and unfamiliar came to life within him, twisting and coiling like the massive storms that brewed on the planet their ship orbited.

  Nuzal frowned, shaking his head before taking a deep breath and pushing it all away to focus on the task at hand. There was a decent amount of internal damage from the projectiles that had been used against the Venium.